The invention relates to a fluid meter comprising an outside wall of determined thickness to which a flange connected to a pipe is fixed via fixing members which penetrate into holes organized respectively in the thickness of said flange and in said outside wall in order to install said meter on said pipe, said meter having an opening for fluid feed which is organized in the outside wall and behind which there is provided a xe2x80x9cfeedxe2x80x9d chamber into which the fluid coming from the feed opening flows.
In such fluid meters, the flow coming from the feed opening and passing through the feed chamber can convey disturbances such as turbulent structures which are transported into the measurement unit.
The measurement unit which is constituted, for example, by a fluidic oscillator or which is of the ultrasound type, or indeed of the type using an obstacle with vortexes becoming detached in alternation at a frequency proportional to the flow rate, is sensitive to disturbing turbulent structures conveyed by the flow and which can give rise to errors of measurement.
An object of the present invention is to remedy that problem by proposing a fluid meter comprising an outside wall of determined thickness to which a flange connected to a pipe is fixed via fixing members which penetrate into holes organized respectively in the thickness of said flange and in said outside wall in order to install said meter on said pipe, said meter having an opening for fluid feed which is organized in the outside wall and behind which there is provided a xe2x80x9cfeedxe2x80x9d chamber into which the fluid coming from the feed opening flows, wherein the fluid meter also has studs disposed inside the feed chamber so as to modify the fluid flow, and in which internal perforations are provided in alignment with the holes for receiving portions of said fixing members.
The turbulent structures present in the flow traveling through the feed chamber then encounter the studs and are destroyed, thus preventing such structures from propagating into the measurement unit of the meter.
The invention also makes it possible to reduce the size of the meter by considerably reducing the thickness of the outside wall of the meter in which the fixing members are inserted since these members now extend inside the studs placed in the feed chamber instead of being received solely in a thicker outside wall of the meter.
In the invention, the fluid meter may also comprise a second outside wall opposite to the first, of determined thickness, and on which another flange connected to another pipe is fixed via fixing members which penetrate into holes formed respectively in the thickness of said flange and in the outside wall in order to install said meter on said pipe, said meter also having an opening for exhausting fluid from the meter, which opening is provided in the second outside wall behind which a xe2x80x9cexhaustxe2x80x9d chamber is provided into which the fluid flows before escaping via said exhaust opening, the fluid meter further comprising studs disposed inside the exhaust chamber in such a manner as to modify the fluid flow, and in which internal perforations are provided in alignment with the holes for receiving portions of said fixing members.
Thus, the size of the meter can be further reduced between the flanges by considerably reducing the thickness of the other outside wall of the meter in which the fixing members are inserted since these members extend inside the studs disposed in the exhaust chamber.
According to a characteristic, the fluid meter comprises an inside wall placed facing one of the outside walls and serving to direct the fluid flow in at least one direction that is substantially parallel to said wall.
This wall can be disposed substantially perpendicularly to the flow direction of the fluid coming from the feed opening.
The studs are disposed substantially perpendicularly to the inside wall.
According to other characteristics:
at least some of the studs of the feed chamber or of the exhaust chamber are streamlined in a direction parallel to the inside wall and corresponding to the flow direction of the fluid circulating in said chamber;
the height of the studs lies in the range 0.5d to d, where d corresponds to the spacing between the inside and outside walls defining the height of the feed chamber or the exhaust chamber;
the studs are distributed on a common circumference;
the feed opening or the exhaust opening is disposed inside said circumference;
at least one orifice is provided in the feed chamber for allowing the fluid flow to leave said feed chamber;
in a view in a plane parallel to the inside wall, at least some of the studs are streamlined towards the outlet orifice(s) of the feed chamber;
in a view in a plane parallel to the inside wall, at least some of the studs present portions of pointed shape directed towards the outlet orifice(s) of the feed chamber; and
in a view on a plane parallel to the inside wall, the orifice(s) is/are disposed outside the circumference.
In a view in a plane parallel to the inside wall, at least some of the studs present portions in the form of points directed towards the exhaust opening from the exhaust chamber, each of said streamlined studs being oriented on an axis passing through the center of said stud and through its point, the axes of said studs converging on a point which is offset from the center of the exhaust opening and which is situated between said studs and said center of the exhaust opening.
Advantageously, to reduce in very significant manner the size of the fluid meter of the invention which comprises a measurement unit, the unit is a measurement unit disposed substantially perpendicularly to the direction in which the fluid feed and exhaust openings are aligned.
The fluid meter may comprise a measurement unit constituted by a fluidic oscillator or which is of the ultrasound type.